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Bendable portion control device for an endoscope

a control device and bendable technology, applied in the field of bendable portion control devices, can solve the problems of reducing the strength of the reduced portion when the bendable portion control knob is rotated with an excessive torque, and it is difficult to safely remove the insertion portion of the endoscope from the body cavity, etc., and achieve the effect of preventing the endoscopic operation from continuing at any rate, preventing the insertion portion from breaking, and preventing the insertion portion from being damaged

Inactive Publication Date: 2007-11-01
HOYA CORP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]The present invention provides a bendable portion control device of an endoscope which makes it possible for the endoscope to continue to be used without being damaged even if an excessive torque is exerted on the bendable portion control knob during use of the endoscope, and further makes it possible to achieve this bendable portion control device by a mechanism which is sufficiently small and thin so as to be capable of being installed in, e.g., the internal space of the bendable portion control knob.
[0011]It is desirable for the torque limiting mechanism to be accommodated and arranged in an internal space of the control knob. Hence, the torque limiting mechanism can be easily made slim.
[0022]According to the present invention, since the bendable portion control device is provided with a torque limiting mechanism, positioned in the operating force transmission mechanism, for allowing a torque which is exerted on the control knob to be transmitted to the bendable portion via the control wire when the torque is at or below a predetermined torque and for preventing the torque from being transmitted to the bendable portion via the control wire when the torque is over the predetermined torque, the endoscope can continue to be used without being damaged even if an excessive torque is exerted on the bendable portion control knob during use of the endoscope; moreover, this bendable portion control device can be achieved by the small and thin torque limiting mechanism which is sufficiently small and thin so as to be capable of being installed in, e.g., the internal space of the bendable portion control knob that is manually operated to manipulate the bendable portion.

Problems solved by technology

If a control wire is accidentally snapped (broken) by being acted upon by an excessive tensile force, an extremely troublesome overhaul is required; moreover, the bendable portion remains bent, which may make it difficult to remove the insertion portion of the endoscope from a body cavity safely.
However, as disclosed in JUPP 2003-339630, even if the aforementioned reduced-strength portion that is weaker in strength than the control wire is installed at some midpoint therein, the reduced-strength portion breaks upon the bendable portion control knob being rotated with an excessive torque.
Once the reduced-strength portion breaks, the broken part needs to be fixed, so that the endoscopic operation cannot continue to be performed at any rate.
Due to this structure, even if the friction clutch can be installed in a portion of the endoscope which does not have to be directly manually operated like a motor drive mechanism, the bendable portion control knob increases in size to thereby deteriorate the operability of the endoscope if one intends to install the friction clutch into, e.g., the internal space of the bendable portion control knob that is manually operated to manipulate the bendable portion.
This increase in size of the bendable portion control knob results in a serious loss in the operability of the endoscope.

Method used

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  • Bendable portion control device for an endoscope
  • Bendable portion control device for an endoscope
  • Bendable portion control device for an endoscope

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

first embodiment

[0034]FIG. 3 shows the general configuration of the endoscope. The endoscope is provided with a flexible insertion portion 1 and a control portion 4 coupled to the proximal end of the insertion portion 1. The insertion portion 1 is provided in the vicinity of the distal end (free end) thereof with a remote-controllable bendable portion 2, and is further provided with an end body 3 fixed to the end (free end) of the bendable portion 2. An objective window and others (not shown) are provided in the end body 3.

[0035]The control portion 4, which is coupled to the proximal end of the insertion portion 1, is provided thereon with a U-D control knob 5UD for bending the bendable portion 2 upward and downward in a controlled manner, and an R-L control knob 5RL for bending the bendable portion 2 rightward and leftward in a controlled manner. The U-D control knob 5UD and the R-L control knob 5RL are overlaid on each other and coaxially arranged so that each of the U-D control knob 5UD and the ...

second embodiment

[0054]FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view of the torque limiting mechanism provided in the bendable portion control device of the endoscope according to the present invention, taken along a section corresponding to the section shown by I-I line in FIG. 4. The torque limiting mechanism shown in FIG. 5 is constructed so that the outer diameter of the grooved rotational plate 17 is reduced to a degree that the outer peripheral surface of the grooved rotational plate 17 does not come in contact with the engaging lug 22 to allow the U-D control knob 5UD to rotate freely with no resistance upon the engaging lug 22 being disengaged from the engaging groove 21. This structure facilitates the operation of bringing the engaging lug 22 back into the engaging groove 21.

third embodiment

[0055]FIG. 6 shows the torque limiting mechanism provided in the bendable portion control device of the endoscope according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the grooved rotational plate 17 is provided with a plurality of engaging grooves 21, each into which the engaging lug 22 is engageable. According to this structure, even when the engaging lug 22 is disengaged from one engaging groove 21, the engaging lug 22 is immediately re-engaged in another engaging groove 21 so that the bendable portion 2 returns to a controllable state thereof without delay.

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PUM

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Abstract

A bendable portion control device for an endoscope including a control portion and an insertion portion extending therefrom, the insertion portion having a bendable portion at a distal end thereof, the bendable portion control device includes a control wire fixed thereto and extending to the control portion through the insertion portion; a control knob disposed on the control portion; an operating force transmission mechanism having a pair of relatively rotatable members connected to the control knob and a proximal end of the control wire, respectively; and a torque limiting mechanism for allowing torque to be transmitted to the bendable portion via the control wire when the torque is equal to or less than a predetermined torque, and for preventing the torque from being transmitted to the bendable portion via the control wire by disengaging the relatively rotatable members from each other when exceeding the predetermined torque.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a bendable portion control device (bendable portion steering device) for manipulating and steering the steerable bendable portion of a flexible insertion portion of an endoscope.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]In typical endoscopes, the steerable bendable portion provided in the vicinity of the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope can be bent freely in any direction at any angle (i.e., the orientation of the tip of the distal end can be freely adjusted) by pulling and extending control wires from a control portion coupled to the proximal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope, and the control portion is provided thereon with a freely-rotatable control knob (bendable portion control knob) for manually pulling and extending the control wires from the proximal end side thereof.[0005]If a control wire is accidentally snapped (broken) by being acted upon by...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): A61B1/00
CPCA61B1/0057A61B1/0052
Inventor MARUYAMA, YOSHINORI
Owner HOYA CORP